Looking For Some Tech Resources!
- Thread starter Valgavv
- Start date
You know, Val, if you have an old laptop or some old equipment for a desktop lying around, you can build your own linux server quite easily. It would make a good sandbox for learning to administrate your own linux server. It's a lot more fun than reading about it, which is painfully dry.
Agreed.
Just download a distro of something like CentOS or even Unbuntu and run it in console mode so you can get a feel for the command line. There are plenty of free resources online with a quick search.
Personally, I like the CentOS flavor because it's very universal for basic needs and it runs very easily on most hardware. I've got a copy of VMWare Workstation running on my home PC and on top of the VMWare, I have various flavors of linux running to play with.
Have you already worked with Juniper stuff? Just curious... I've not touched Juniper equipment in years since I left my last job in America. (Then again, I'm not doing hands-on IT support work anymore, so I rarely get to play with the good stuff anymore.)
That's a good idea Furax, I do have some spare parts lying around, and a laptop that's just catching dust.... I'll see what I can get cooking.
Juniper is a whole new realm for me. Though when was learning about it a little bit, it reminded me of linux... so if I can start playing around with linux administration, I'm hoping Juniper CLI will come natural. I'm currently strictly Cisco, working in a Cisco only shop. I am looking for other opportunities currently and I'm noticing that positions want/need more diverse Network Engineers. So far I've dealt strictly with the back end of networks and my knowledge tends to fall short once I pass layer 4 and start to creep into the system admin world.
As a system admin, the most knowledge I gained was working tier 1 and tier 2 helpdesk tickets. However, that knowledge was mostly relevant to the company I was with at the time. There are some prevalent standards between companies: Equallogic SANs, Cisco routers and switches, and VMWare virtual servers. There aren't many linux systems in established small to medium business environments. If you are looking for linux opportunities, I highly suggest you head towards linux storage technology. A LOT of big rendering houses and large corporations, like Pixar and Dreamworks, are in the market for linux storage engineers. The role pays well, especially at the senior levels.
Expanding upon future needs, you should also do some research on Microsoft's upcoming cloud storage. They're going to be integrating it with customer's intranet security policies (AD, group policies), allowing security principals to propagate to their cloud storage and secure data as if it was stored on locally installed storage. There's an all-day seminar on upcoming Microsoft tech September 18th. Might want to get in touch with any contacts you have at MS and register.
Because of my job, I can't talk about what I do publicly but I can say that I get to see the inside operations of many different types of companies.
(most of them large, global companies)
I see a lot of linux usage on the server side. They usually have a custom global linux image that they use for a base installation. For the core network, in most all cases, it's Windows AD for control of desktop login, file shares and printing. After logging into the desktop, then users can login to other systems through a browser, SSH or other mainframe type of interface.
For storage, I see a lot of EMC equipment being used for SAN purposes. I've got some companies that are reducing their server footprint by consolidating physical servers into virtual ones. Thus, they are storing all of the key data on the SAN and the virtual server is just sort of a dummy terminal. (data center space is getting cheaper since these companies are reducing their physical footprint, thus a lot more empty data centers.)
I could go on and on, but every company I've visited and seen their infrastructure, has a Hodge-podge of stuff for various purposes. Cloud, virtual servers and BYOD is taking hold, so those technologies are continuing to emerge. For BYOD, you may want to get familiar with MDM. (i.e. something like http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/it-center/deployment-mdm.html or http://www.mobileiron.com/ or even http://www1.good.com/ ) I've played with all of them during training I've received on mobile device security this past year.
I wrote too much... lol.
(most of them large, global companies)
I see a lot of linux usage on the server side. They usually have a custom global linux image that they use for a base installation. For the core network, in most all cases, it's Windows AD for control of desktop login, file shares and printing. After logging into the desktop, then users can login to other systems through a browser, SSH or other mainframe type of interface.
For storage, I see a lot of EMC equipment being used for SAN purposes. I've got some companies that are reducing their server footprint by consolidating physical servers into virtual ones. Thus, they are storing all of the key data on the SAN and the virtual server is just sort of a dummy terminal. (data center space is getting cheaper since these companies are reducing their physical footprint, thus a lot more empty data centers.)
I could go on and on, but every company I've visited and seen their infrastructure, has a Hodge-podge of stuff for various purposes. Cloud, virtual servers and BYOD is taking hold, so those technologies are continuing to emerge. For BYOD, you may want to get familiar with MDM. (i.e. something like http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/it-center/deployment-mdm.html or http://www.mobileiron.com/ or even http://www1.good.com/ ) I've played with all of them during training I've received on mobile device security this past year.
I wrote too much... lol.
Not at all Aang, it's all good information. Being able to see a broad scope of different network configs is good especially if there is a trend. You can discover needs that way. Also Furax, you've hit a couple points and interests I have so I'll definitely look into it. Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback. I'll let you know what I get into.